The Nets sought energy, athleticism, excitement. And, what the heck, they wanted more offense and defense, too. So coach Lawrence Frank turned to Josh Boone and Sean Williams as starters.

Got it. Got it. Got it, all across the board. Well, almost all the way.

The Nets wanted a victory more than anything.

Welcome to life. Sometimes you just don’t get everything you want.

The energy infusion the Nets received early was wiped away late with another costly fourth-quarter offensive dead zone plus a ghastly display of turnovers and the inability to summon the must-get stop.

So the Kings won for only the second time on the road all year, dealing the sloppy, 22-turnover Nets a 106-101 Meadowlands defeat to drop New Jersey to 10-15 and into fourth place in the five-team Atlantic Division.

“We tried to get out and run,” Boone (five points, five assists, four rebounds) said of the young-uns’ attempt to ignite the Nets. “But it matters how you close a game. It doesn’t matter how you start.”

They started good. They closed, well, not good. And all night, they gave away the ball. And gave up too many 3s, 13 in all, the most costly coming by Francisco Garcia (24 points) with 15.7 seconds left off a drive and kick by John Salmons (career-high 31 points).

The Kings still don’t have Mike Bibby and have been without Kevin Martin for two weeks, but they made up for it some with Brad Miller getting a 23-10 double-double.

For a while, it looked like Williams might be the difference. He tied the team rookie record for blocks with eight (Mike Gminski, 1981). He added 11 points and seven rebounds to the cause. Not enough.

The Nets, though, replayed the same tired script they have employed so often, though this time they avoided a double-digit deficit. They had lots of good: Richard Jefferson had season-high-tying 36 points, plus nine rebounds); Jason Kidd neared a triple-double (11 points, 10 boards, nine assists); Vince Carter had 15 points, seven assists.

But there were turnovers. The meltdown. The lack of key stops.

The meltdown came after Allen’s jumper at 10:34 brought an 82-79 lead. Then the Nets lost all execution for 6:05, committing seven turnovers and shoot ing 1-of-5 as the Kings took a 95-91 lead. Along the way, the Nets were victimized by another four- point play, this one by Gar cia at 7:39.

Then Gar cia’s dagger. Jefferson made it 100-99 with 35.3 seconds left. So Salmons drove and passed to Garcia on the right horizon. And what the Nets coveted most again slipped through their grasp.

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Ex-Net Mikki Moore, now a King, said he was faced with a 30-minute ultimatum from the Nets last summer: Take three years for $10 million or the deal is off the table. Moore passed, and eventually he listened to advice from two unlikely sources – Carter and Jefferson.

Within a week, the Kings offered $18 million.

Moore said he “talked to RJ and Vince, and after I told them what was offered they told me, ‘You come back here, we’re going to whip your butt every single day for turning down that money.’ “

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Marcus Williams, who broke his right foot before training camp, made his season debut. He played four first-half minutes. . . . Kidd left after the game for personal reasons and will miss practice today but join the team in Miami tomorrow.